Best-Ever Curry Cookbook: Over 150 Great Curries from India and Asia. / by Mridula Baljekar. Published by Hermes House, Anness Publishing, London, England, 2006.
Presenting a range of spices and cooked to perfection in flavor, texture and color, curries are such an exotic treat! If, not having grown up in one of the curry cultures, we could conspire to create such a treat in our own kitchens, all would be worth the effort of selecting the right recipe, purchasing the spices, following the instructions, etc. And if each recipe came packaged in vividly colorful photographs, kitchen life would be even more exciting, as the steps to success would be in-arguably assured. And if the recipes were organized by local origin, with emblematic ingredients outlined (and photographed), there would be little, once at the grocery, to confuse the novice curry-maker. And if vegetarians, always on the look-out for a new dish find inspiration here, even next to the meat and fish, such a book would be indeed the best-ever!
You’ll find all these excellent conditions met in the Best-Ever Curry Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar. Chapter heading photography is quite artful and conducive to dreaming about curries. And the page layouts are clean and attractive. Paging through the first section on North India, I came across the recipe, “Corn on the Cob in Rich Onion Sauce”. And on flashed recognition of the ingredients that are close to my heart: corn, yogurt and onions! with spices for the curry, of course.
What’s so wonderful about these cheery recipes is that they engender ideas. Even the authors point out in their introductory notes on the regional style, “Indian cooking lends itself to being personalized by different cooks, and even with just two or three spices you can create distinctly varied dishes.” p. 14. I find that quite inspirational. You won’t believe the diversity of curries for vegetarians if I don’t mention the recipes cover mushrooms, potatoes, zucchinis, eggplants, cauliflower, kidney beans, and black lentils—all in separate curries—at least one for each day of the week from North India, with almost as many in South and West Indian recipes.
There are still fewer vegetarian recipes in the South-east Asian section, however, you can still find treasures such as recipes for Gado-Gado, an Indonesian sauce used ubiquitously to enliven rice dishes; sambals, chutneys, garlic sauces and favorite coconut rice dishes and breads, round out the author’s selections. Each section has an orientation to the local culture, a description with photographs of the main food items, spices, and each recipe is detailed with photography and instructions. And if you’re adventuresome, you can look at a curried fish recipe and see tofu instead, combining the spices as shown to create your magic curry best-ever dishes!
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